The head of WIndows Phone at Microsoft, Joe Belfiore, has apparently backed a claim by Nokia that the Lumia 800 is the 'first real Windows phone' to come to the market, despite the fact that other Windows Phone handsets have already been launched since last year.

The Telegraph's Matt Warman quotes Belfiore saying "when he said it I was very enthusiastic; it made me feel positive" before adding "I think what Nokia's going to do is going to be quite different from what other manufacturers have done with Windows Phone. So from that perspective I think it's fair. And I think it will capture for us and for customers a really different feel about the whole proposition."

He hinted that one reason why Microsoft and Nokia enjoy a special relationship is because Nokia is focusing only on one platform, whereas other handset manufacturers focus on two or more, with Android being the other elephant in the room (ed: Samsung focuses on FOUR mobile platforms).

Mr Belfiore did not mention that Nokia also tends to do things in its own way when it comes to software, a legacy from the days when it used to run Symbian as a smartphone platform.

The Lumia 800 for example comes with Nokia Maps, Nokia Drive, Nokia Music and a few more Nokia-only applications that may compete with Microsoft's own offerings (like Bing Maps).